Tag Archives: Heydekrug

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Finding out, where Hermann Radzyk painted a market: Heydekrug

The “mysterious” market painted by Hermann Radzyk

My grandfather, Hermann Radzig-Radzyk, painted a market near a creek. He signed the painting, and he gave it neither a title nor a date.

Searching again and again, I found it was the market of Heydekrug, as this photo from about 1925 shows. 

Source: https://wiki.genealogy.net/Markt_in_Heydekrug, accessed in april 2025.  

Up to the First Word War, Heydekrug belonged to Eastern Prussia, now it is called Silute and is part of Lithuania (Litauen).

 

Two more paintings from former Eastern Prussia (now Lithuania)

Not far from Heydekrug, my grandfather visited Purwin (Nidden) on the Curonian Spit. The first painting is signed and dated to 1928; it has no title.

The second view of Purwin is dated to 1932. The title on the back says “Fischerhäuser auf der Kurischen Nehrung (Purwin), (fishermen’s houses on the Curonian Spit (Purwin).”

Very similar postcard views can be found on https://www.bildarchiv-ostpreussen.de/ (numbers 46466/7 and 130909).

 

How did I find the market at Heydekrug?

Let me tell you, how I found, where my grandfather had painted the market.

In the beginning, I had absolutely no idea, where this market could be. Perhaps in Belgium? In Belgium, I looked for markets on old postcards – without success.

Independently, I wanted to know, what paintings my grandfather exhibited at the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung (Great Berlin Art Exhibition). I checked all catalogues from 1910 up to 1945. For 1932, I found the painting “Marktschluss in Heidekrug (market closure at Heidekrug)”; it had the number 239. I remembered the painting of the market that I had not localized so far. Is this perhaps the market I am looking for?

I searched for “Heidekrug” on googlemaps and found a village with this name east of Berlin. But Heidekrug east of Berlin had no market near a creek. I looked for old postcards of Heidekrug; no, my grandfather’s market was not here. I search again and again for “Heidekrug”, and once, by chance, google search decides to show the genealogy Website with HeYdekrug to me. Could it be that there are two ways to write “Heidekrug”? Now, I search for “Heydekrug”, and this time, the genealogy website comes up with the old postcard that shows the same houses that my grandfather has painted. 

 

I feel like the three princes of Serendipity: The painting of the market – no idea from where. The catalogue of the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung – found one painting with the title “Marktschluss in Heidekrug”.  Heidekrug near Berlin – not a good match. But Heydekrug on the genealogy Website for descendants from former Eastern Prussia – this is it!

Heydekrug, now called Silute, in Lithuania is located on  the creek Sysa. The Sysa is navigable up to Heydekrug/Silute and from here, it is possible to get to the Curonian Spit by boat. 

Perhaps, my grandfather painted the market, when he was travelling to Purwin and the Curonian Spit. He probably had to stop at Heydekrug; it was a train stop on the route from Königsberg to Memel. From Heydekrug, he took the boat to get to the Curonian Spit and to Purwin.  

 

The Curonian Spit – a popular spot for artists

The Curonian Spit (Kurische Nehrung) was a popular spot for artists. At Purwin (a district of Nidden), the guesthouse Blode started to be visited by artists in 1867. In the beginning of the 20th century, members of the Brücke group stayed here, amongst them Max Pechstein. Thomas Mann owned a house at Purwin, where he spent his summers from 1930 to 1932.  Google images is full of paintings that Max Pechstein has made at Purwin. In addition, I found the PDF reprint of the Landsmannschaft Ostpreussen with paintings of various other artists such as Corinth and Mollenhauer.  

Popular spots of artists attracted my grandfather again and again for his study tours (“Studienreisen”). I believe he looked for contacts and discussion partners. The PDF of the Landsmannschaft contains a photo of the artists’ corner in the guesthouse Blode, where my grandfather might have joined the conversations between artists.   

Let us look at my grandfather’s paintings again. The house, the pine tree and the fence on the right hand side of the fist painting of 1928…

… appear also in the middle of the second painting of 1932, just from a different angle.

In the year 1930, Hermann Radzyk gave two paintings from Nidden to the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung: “Fischersiedlung (fishermens’ settlement” (number 331) and “Am Nidderhafen (near the port of Nidden)” (number 332).

 

Would it be an idea to travel to Lithuania?

Jörn Baford writes in the Kulturforum that since the 1990’s, Nidden (today Nida) on the Curonian Spit attracts tourists again and the house of Thomas Mann has become a cultural centre. Perhaps I should plan to visit Lithuania soon? It is another travel destination that my grandfather is pointing me to.

 

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